Editorial: Long Live The Gift Of Reading

It’s ingrained in us to avoid green food that is not naturally green, as it usually indicates the food has gone bad.

But that Sam-I-Am, that Sam-I-Am, he is a persistent chap. And so maybe we’d be happy eating green eggs and ham after all, as dozens of Fort Smith elementary students appeared to be while eating them Friday morning. Several schools served the unusual breakfast fare as part of myriad Read Across America activities.

“Dr. Seuss books are ones that a lot of us remember,” said Jennie Mathews, principal at Sutton Elementary School, which honored winners of a school-wide Dr. Seuss writing contest. “It doesn’t matter how old you are, it hooks everyone.”

The National Education Association sponsors Read Across America, which works to motivate children and teenagers to read. The program is a yearlong effort, though March 1 was Read Across America Day. The events focused on Theodor Seuss Geissl, aka Dr. Seuss, in honor of his March 2 birthday.

We couldn’t say it more succinctly than the National Education Association: “Remember, you’re never too old, too wacky, too wild, to pick up a book and read with a child.” Whether you are a parent, a grandparent, an aunt or uncle, a teacher, a mentor, there is no greater gift you can give a child than the ability to read and love of reading.

Reading is a lifelong gift, one many of us take for granted, but the thrill of learning to read is not just for children.

We were inspired last week by a CBS News report out of Cookson, Okla., that profiled a World War II veteran who had kept his illiteracy secret from all but his closest family.

Ed Bray was at Normandy, and received two Purple Hearts and a dozen other medals, according to CBS News. After the war, he worked at a civilian job refueling planes.

“The toughest thing that ever happened to me in my life was not being able to read,” he said in the report. “I’ve covered this up for 80 years. Nobody in this town knows I can’t read.”

Recently, a friend suggested Bray see Tobi Thompson, a professor of reading education at Northeastern State University.

“He told me I was wasting my time,” Thompson told CBS News. “And I said, ‘Well, we’ll just sit and chat a couple times a week, is that okay?’”

Their weekly talks gave way to flash cards, and the sight words on them suddenly clicked with Bray. Last month, at 89 years old, Bray read his first book, about George Washington, and quickly followed it with three more third-grade level biographies.

Dr. Seuss would be proud.

On The Net:

To view the CBS News report on Bray, visit http://cbsn.ws/YHOdEf

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